Strong showing buoys Seymour

He feels good about himself after game

FOXBOROUGH - On the surface, it seemed like an insignificant early August exhibition game, but for defensive end Richard Seymour, the Patriots' 16-15 loss to the Baltimore Ravens last Thursday night was validation of his newfound health.

Last year, Seymour sat out all of training camp and the first seven games of the season as he recovered slowly from left knee surgery. After playing about 15 snaps against the Ravens, the five-time Pro Bowler declared a noticeable difference and said he feels stronger.

"Just being able to run around on the field and not have any concerns about kind of limping, or gimping, or something like that," said Seymour, who had one tackle. "It was just fun to run around and feel young."

"He is way ahead of where he was last year with being able to participate in training camp," said coach Bill Belichick. "He has done well, and it is good to have him out here."

A healthy Seymour could have a trickle-down effect on the Patriots defense, allowing New England to create more pressure with a basic four-man rush and cover up a question-filled secondary.

"I think everyone has to do their job," said Seymour. "Obviously we know we have a talented front. Hopefully we can get some pressure on the quarterback, but we're a team. You can't have any weak links. Just because the front gets pressure, you still have to have guys back there who can cover.

"Everyone has to pull their own weight and take care of their own responsibilities, or the coaching staff and management will have to get someone in there that can get the job done. Those guys look good, but it's still early at this point now, and I look forward to good things from the secondary."

Physically able

Defensive end Jarvis Green and defensive end/nose tackle Mike Wright came off the physically-unable-to-perform list and started practicing with the Patriots last night, participating in the evening full-pads workout inside Gillette Stadium. Green had arthroscopic shoulder surgery during the offseason, and Wright had his season ended last year by a foot injury.

The 29-year-old Green, who looked noticeably slimmer upon his return, started a career-high 10 games last season and finished second on the team with 6 1/2 sacks. Wright played in nine games with one start last season and was placed on injured reserve Dec. 13.

The Patriots have only two players remaining on PUP, offensive linemen Oliver Ross and Stephen Neal.

Better ideas

Rookie inside linebacker Jerod Mayo downplayed his performance against the Ravens and said he'll have to do better Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"I feel I have a lot of work to do," said Mayo. "My heart was pounding pretty hard the first couple of plays, but after watching the film, I left a lot of plays out there that I'm trying to get better for this week."

Mayo made his mark in his first NFL action when he knocked the helmet off Ravens running back Ray Rice. The play made for a great highlight, but Mayo said he didn't take any pride in it.

"Not yet," he said. "Maybe during a regular-season game, but right now I'm just trying to focus on the little things and technique issues that I have and try to get better each and every day."

Missing persons

The absences continue to mount on the offensive line. Reserve guard/center Russ Hochstein, who appeared to sustain an injury during the second half of the loss to Baltimore, was absent from both the morning walkthrough at the Dana-Farber Field House and the full-pads practice in the evening.

The team already is missing left tackle Matt Light, who has not practiced since July 26, and right tackle candidate Ryan O'Callaghan, who has not practiced since Aug. 1.

Light and O'Callaghan were present at the walkthrough, along with cornerback Jonathan Wilhite and safeties James Sanders and Rodney Harrison. Light was seen walking around and riding a stationary bike. Sanders, Harrison, and Wilhite, who appeared to tweak his right hamstring last Monday, were all seen jogging and riding a bike after the session. None of them participated in the evening practice.

Slamming Sammy

Running back Sammy Morris, who practiced for the first time since Aug. 3, said he is fully healthy and feeling no effects from the sternum-clavicle separation that ended his season last year.

"I've hit Rodney coming through the hole in pass protection, and I've had to block Tedy [Bruschi] and those guys and have some pretty big hits, so in my mind, that's it," said Morris.

Morris said the competition at running back hasn't precluded the backs from building camaraderie.

"From our standpoint, it benefits our team," said Morris. "We can all do different things, and we are each other's biggest cheerleaders when we're on the sidelines."

Leaving Tank behind

Belichick touched on the loss of safety/linebacker Tank Williams, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday, ending his season. It's the second time in three years that Williams has suffered a season-ending knee injury during the preseason. Williams fractured his left kneecap in Minnesota Vikings camp in 2006. "It is unfortunate. Tank worked hard and did a great job for us," said Belichick, who had Williams working at inside linebacker in camp. "Unfortunately, he is going to be out. We have to move on. He has come back well from this type of injury before, so I am sure he will work hard to come back from this one." . . . Receivers Randy Moss and Jabar Gaffney warmed up by kicking around a soccer ball.

Mike Reiss of the Globe staff contributed to this report